Tumour Immune Microenvironment and Immunotherapies

Venue: Zephyr Targa Hotel

City: Marrakech, Morocco

Dates: June 5-10, 2023

About the Course:

The aim of the course was to exhibit and discuss the latest discoveries on cancer and its complex interactions with the immune system, within the tumor immune microenvironment. The event focused on the tumor immune microenvironment structure and organization, cell and antibody therapies, and cancer vaccines. The goal was to provide high quality up to date immunology knowledge and highly interactive discussion sessions. It is most important to train young scientists from low to middle income countries to have a better grasp of this very promising field. The program was prepared meticulously. A huge effort was performed to select the best students/early career scientists. During the course, the participants benefited from 23 lectures, a workshop on flow cytometry, several sessions on Grant writing, and one session on “Conversion of discoveries into entrepreneurship”. The participants also had the opportunity to present their posters and their grant writing homework to a review panel. The course was a great opportunity for interaction between faculty and advanced PhD students and post-docs to promote career progression of young African scientists, to interact with faculty and participants and extend their network.
An excellent gala dinner took place in the courtyard of the amazing Palace EL Hamra in the Marrakech Medina, with music, great food and lots of photo opportunities. This course was made possible through financial support from IUIS, FAIS, the Moroccan Society for Immunology, and a generous grant from BioNTech Germany.

The course was organized by:

• Abdallah Badou: Hassan II University, Casablanca and Mohammed VI Center for Research and Innovation, Rabat, Morocco
• Jamal Hafid, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco
• Dieter Kabelitz: University of Kiel, Germany
• Michelle Letarte: SickKids Hospital and University
• Clive Gray: Stellenbosch University, RSA

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